- 14 - and cannot be affected by any settlement between the parties before or after judgment. Mo. Ann. Stat. sec. 484.130 (West 1987). This provision stands in marked contrast to the provision of the Alabama Code relied on in Cotnam. Although both provisions give an attorney a lien to secure his or her compensation, the Missouri provision, unlike the Alabama provision, does not give attorneys the same right and power over suits, judgments, and decrees as their clients had or may have. While we agree with petitioner that Missouri law does provide attorneys with a lien interest in their client’s cause of action, we are unable to find, and petitioner fails to cite, any authority under Missouri law that transfers to the attorneys an ownership or proprietary interest in their client’s cause of action. Rather, the cases that petitioner has cited only allow attorneys a lien interest, as opposed to an equity or ownership interest, in their client’s cause of action. In Missouri, attorneys do not have the same substantive rights in proceeds recovered on behalf of their clients as do attorneys in Alabama. See Mills v. Metropolitan St. Ry. Co., 221 S.W. 1, 4 (Mo. 1920) (“the cause of action is the property of the client and not the attorney”). The Missouri provision granting a lien interest to secure an attorney’s compensation is more akin to those attorney lienPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
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